Applying repellent to socks and cuffs of trousers for 

 protection against chiggers. 



O-IRE-100 



Spraying insecticide over lake shore picnic area for chigger 

 control. 



auu cnange tu n^inpiis. 



Nymphs and adults feed on insect eggs, small in- 

 sects, and organisms found on or near woody decay- 

 ing substances. 



• Effects of Attack 



aeaui 01 young cmcKens.- 



Chiggers are not known to transmit any disease in 

 this country. In some parts of the world, particularly 

 in parts of the Far East, they transmit scrub typhus, 

 a serious disease similar to spotted fever. In this 

 country spotted fever is transmitted by ticks. 



The fluid injected into the skin by the chiggers 

 causes reddish welts to appear. It also causes swell- 

 ing, itching, and (in some persons) fever. Chigger 

 bites have a more severe effect on some persons than 

 on others. Persons who are exposed repeatedly may 

 develop immunity to the bites. 



A chigger attached in a pore or at the base of a 

 hair may be so enveloped in swollen skin that it 

 appears to be burrowing into the skin. This fact 

 sometimes leads persons to believe, mistakenly, that 

 chiggers embed themselves in the skin, or that welts 

 contain chiggers. 



Any welts, swelling, itching, or fever will develop 

 within 24 hours after the attack. Itching may be 

 intense and, if nothing is done to relieve it, may con- 



• Infested Places 



Chiggers are most often found in low, damp places 

 where vegetation is rank — for example, berry 

 patches, orchards, woodlands, and margins of lakes 

 and streams. But some species are adapted to living 

 in drier places where vegetation is low, and heavy 

 infestations may be found in lawns, golf courses, and 

 parks. 



You cannot tell by looking at a place whether it is 

 infested. Chiggers may be numerous in a place one 

 year, and scarce or absent another year; and they 

 occur in some places only for short periods. 



2 See Leaflet 383, Poultry Mites: How To Control Them, which may be 

 >btained from the U. S. Department of Agriculture. Washington 25. D. C. 



